New Delhi: A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus, seeking that the court take cognisance of a New York Times (NYT) report on it and order a probe into the 2017 defence deal with Israel. The Editors Guild of India too has urged SC-appointed Justice R V Raveendran committee to take cognisance of the "startling claims" made in NYT report.
The media report claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 has triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to "treason".
The plea filed by advocate ML Sharma, who is one of the original petitioners in the case before the top court, said the deal was not approved by Parliament and, therefore, needs to be cancelled and money be recovered.
He urged the top court to issue suitable directions for registering a criminal case and to investigate the impugned Pegasus spyware purchase deal and alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of justice.
The media report has said Pegasus and a missile system were the "centrepieces" of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017.
The NYT, in its report titled 'The Battle for the World's Most Powerful Cyberweapon', said the Israeli firm NSO Group had for nearly a decade been
"selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what... no one else — not a private company, not even a state intelligence service — could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone".
Earlier on Sunday, in its letter to Justice Raveendran, Editors guild also urged that the proceedings of the committee, set up by the Supreme Court last year to probe the alleged use of the spyware for targeted surveillance in the country, be kept open to the public at large so that there is complete transparency with respect to the witnesses being called as well as their responses.
In a statement, the guild said the claims made in the investigative report of NYT are in "stark contrast" to the stand of the government, which continues to be "vague and non-committal" in its response to the allegations that it purchased the Israeli spyware and used it against Indian citizens, including journalists and civil society members.
"We on behalf of the Editors Guild of India wish to address you on certain startling revelations that have been published by the New York Times on January 28, 2022 regarding the spyware 'Pegasus', sold and licensed by Israeli company NSO Group," the editors' body wrote in its letter to Justice Raveendran.
It noted that the Supreme Court, while constituting the committee, had specifically required it to enquire, investigate and determine whether any Pegasus suite of spyware was acquired by the Union of India or any state government or any central or state agency for use against the citizens of the country.
"We urge the committee to take cognisance of the startling claims by one of the most respected news organisations in the world and to call upon the Government of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India as well as the secretaries of ministries that may have been involved with the claimed purchase of the spyware — Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as well as any other ministry that your Lordship or the committee deems fit as witnesses to the inquiry and seek their responses on affidavit on the aforementioned New York Times report," the guild said.
On October 27, last year, the top court had appointed a 3-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying the state cannot get a "free pass" every time the spectre of national security is raised and it cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away from.
In one of the significant verdicts in recent times over the issue of citizens' right to privacy, a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had said that mere invocation of national security by the state cannot render the judiciary a "mute spectator" and asserted that indiscriminate spying on individuals in a democratic country cannot be allowed.
The apex court said Justice Raveendran will oversee functioning of the three-member panel of cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware.
It had said that former IPS officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi — Chairman, Sub Committee in (International Organisation of Standardisation/ International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee) — will assist Justice Raveendran to oversee the task to the committee.
The apex court had said it is appointing the committee in view of the six compelling circumstances: Right to privacy and freedom of speech are alleged to be impacted, which needs to be examined; entire citizenry is affected by such allegations due to the potential chilling effect, no clear stand taken by the Centre regarding actions taken by it and seriousness accorded to the allegations by foreign countries and involvement of foreign parties.